Phillips Library lands NASA’s ‘Here, There & Everywhere’ exhibit

A new science exhibit in Phillips Library is providing students with an interesting view of physics. Here, There & Everywhere compares experiences from a human scale on Earth—such as an electric charge when touching a doorknob—to what happens in space, like an electric charge build-up that creates a spectacular display of sudden energy release. The NASA-supported exhibit complements the efforts at the university to promote STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).

“Aurora University students training for teaching positions at the elementary and secondary level can use this program to learn how to integrate science topics from the everyday world into extrapolating the same ideas in space,” said Lauren Jackson-Beck, Technical Services Librarian. “The exhibition does a wonderful job of demonstrating all the ways science can be connected through simple observation. It includes hands-on demonstrations, beautiful imagery and numerous resources.”

There are six topic areas in the exhibit: shadows, wind, electric discharge, bow waves, lensing and the collisional excitation of atoms. The exhibit was conceived, designed and generated by a team at the Chandra X-ray Center, which is part of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass. Phillips Library was one of 30 locations in the nation chosen to feature the exhibit, which will be on display through Monday, October 28.

The emphasis on science at Aurora University reflects bold initiatives to improve STEM education, including the creation of the John C. Dunham STEM Partnership School, which is currently under construction. The school will serve approximately 200 students in third through eighth grades from four area public school districts (East Aurora, Indian Prairie, Oswego and West Aurora). It is scheduled to open for the 2014-2015 academic year.